


Reawakening

by Hideki



Category: Fire Emblem: Soen no Kiseki/Akatsuki no Megami | Fire Emblem Path of Radiance/Radiant Dawn
Genre: Multi
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2014-04-25
Updated: 2014-04-25
Packaged: 2018-01-20 18:21:35
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Major Character Death
Chapters: 2
Words: 6,533
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/1520801
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Hideki/pseuds/Hideki
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Memories drip down through my fingers; who am I, and why am I here? All questions I would like to be answered, but ones I won't get to as I sit amidst an incoming war.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Premonition: Invisible Ties | Prologue: The Verge of History

**Author's Note:**

> After playing Fire Emblem: Awakening, I've wanted to be doing my re-telling of the story but through my character's eyes. This will heavily be a first-person thing (it may jump to other character's FPOV now and then, and rarely third person) and will be following the canon storyline that is already given, though this will be with the things that happen in my own game I am playing. Character that die in my game will die here too, characters that get married will be married here too so that's why I'm not too sure as what I should put in the relationship tag.
> 
> If you do plan on playing it, I do not recommend reading it as it will contain super heavy spoilers. Unless you don't mind it. I will plan to be making reference to the other Fire Emblem games, but I have not played them myself, so I will be researching into that!
> 
> Expect the appearance of possible another OC, an IRL friend who is also doing a similar thing, and his character will appear in omake chapters that will come later.
> 
> This will also have my own custom stories now and then added in, with twists and what not. Not everything will fully follow canon storylines, but I will try to keep dialogue and actions original as much as possible, with paraphrasing added in now and then.
> 
> I do hope you enjoy it, as this will be one of my biggest projects up to date! And it's not even Bleach, wow.

This was it, those were the words I repeated in my head as I clutched the tome closer to my chest, steps quick against the blackened floor. His words repeated in my head: "You're one of us, Satoru, and no 'destiny' can change that."

I hoped so.

As we both approached ▒▒▒▒▒▒▒, I twisted my arms to a stretched out position and opened the tome, one hand flinging out to send a bolt of lightning towards the towering mage—it managed to hit him but quickly he retaliated back with his own magic. It was lucky that I was expecting it, but I still had my arm and side be hit, sending a heavy wave of pain through it. I grit my teeth tightly together, startled sound momentarily leaving me afterwards as ▒▒▒▒▒ rushed forward with ▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒ gripped tightly in his hands.

He was quick to cut him down after a few good swings, and we both seemed to let out a sigh as ▒▒▒▒▒▒▒'s body collapsed down, purple smoke coming out from below him. All these months of fighting... it all seemed to be over until--" **This isn't over... damn you BOTH!** "

Time seemed to slow down as the dark conjured spell was sent out towards ▒▒▒▒▒. My hand flung out to come into contact with his chest to push him, watching his expression change to confusion and shock. Waves of sharp pain rippled through me, and I was blinded momentarily from the amount of pain; I didn't even feel myself come into contact with the ground, sliding across it slightly.

Everything went fuzzy in my vision, but I saw ▒▒▒▒ approaching, large hands sliding under me to help me into a sitting position and soon to a standing one. Idly I looked over to where ▒▒▒▒▒▒▒ once had stood, now only seeing the smoke left. I didn't fully register the words that came from ▒▒▒▒▒ as I noticed red covering part of my vision, a sharp pain stabbing through my head and sending cold chills through my spine, that **voice** ringing out. My lack of a response caught ▒▒▒▒▒'s attention, visage contorting to show worry and confusion.

"... What's wrong? Hey, hang on-" ▒▒▒▒▒'s ▒▒▒▒ ▒▒▒▒ eyes widened and I felt his grip on me slacken, leaving me unsteady for a few moments. My gaze traveled down only to see a spear condensed out of magic jammed through chest, and through his back. Fear washed over me, not even fully aware that I had done that to him. It was too late. I screamed out his name once in my head, as my voice would not cooperate because of **him**.

"This is not your—your fault... promise me..."

His voice was coarse now, as if straining to escape his throat.

"You'll escape from this place... Please, go..." The last thing I saw was his body collapsing down upon the ground, figure covered with the white cloak I knew so well, now stained red with his blood.

* * *

Muddled voices flitted in and out of the range of my attention until some of my consciousness began returning... the voices sounded to have come from a male and a female.

"Chr—have t—omething!"

"Wh—ou propos—e do?"

I wanted to go back to sleep, but I forced myself to slowly open my eyes and I was met with two faces, my eyes first falling upon the person to my left, spotting soft and deep ocean blue eyes looking back at me, his face framed by locks of the same colour. His gaze matched his smile: soft and comforting. Soon my attention traveled to the right to take in the other presence—a young female, grey-blue eyes now holding excitement in them as her bleach blonde locks put in two ponytails seemed to jump a little with every movement of hers.

"I see you're awake now," the tall man said, smile seeming to widen by a smidgen—maybe that was just me looking at him for a moment too long.

"Hey there," greeted the other female, soft smile now matching the one the other held as well; she seemed to be relieved to see I was okay.

"There are better places to take a nap than on the ground you know. Give me your hand." His gloved hand was held out, and instinctively I put my smaller hand in his, allowing him to pull me up in his grasp. In the back of my head I took in the detail of the tattoo that marked the top of my hand, light and next to transparent, and of a design I had never seen before. "You alright?"

"Y-Yes... thank you, Chrom." After a few moments I seemed to stiffen, blinking slowly. Chrom? It wasn't a name that rang any bells within my memory but it seemed to slip off my tongue as if it was nothing.

The blue-haired male seemed mildly surprised before adding in, "Ah, so then you know who I am?"

"No, actually, I... It's strange... Your name, it just...came to me..." The words sounded as weird coming out from my mouth as they probably thought of it. To ease the awkward air that had settled between us I turned my gaze to what was around us... seemed to be a simple plain, trees dotting the landscape now and then along with a rough stone path on the ground. Nothing too special that stood out to me.

"... Hmn. Curious. Tell me, what's your name? What are you doing here?"

"I... my name... It's..." I was drawing a blank at every point. What was my name? I must've looked completely lost to them.

"... You don't even know your own name?" I was about to answer before the smaller female butted into the discussion.

"Hey! I've heard of this; it's called amnesia!" she answered. A lowly murmur about my confession and about not knowing my name reached my ears, something similar to it being 'pegasus dung'. I caught sight of a chocolate brown-haired and fully armored man standing not too far away, his dark eyes trained on me... he was really the only other person there that was a man, so it could have only been him saying that. I bristled up a little, it was the truth, it's not like I would just randomly come up with that for—for what reason? I wouldn't even have one.

I protested to him about that (thankfully I held myself back for the most part) and he was about to open his mouth to comment back when the other male—now I could call him Chrom, since apparently that was his name—pulled the larger male back, hushed discussion escaping between them. Not that I didn't catch on to what they were talking about, more specifically what they should do with me and if they should leave or not. I crossed my arms under my chest, swinging my head a little so that my brown bangs wouldn't fall over my left eye—it was enough that my right eye was covered by the swept bangs.

"You do know I'm still here? Don't I have a say in this?"

Chrom turned to look at me, holding up his hands as if he was surrendering, though that smile still remained on his face, albeit it was smaller than before and hard to catch. "Peace—we'll discuss this more once we arrive at a nearby town. Let us go."

We began walking, though we remained in silence... at least until I spoke up again. "Am I to be your prisoner? Are you going to hand me over to authority?"

A laugh almost sounding like a snort left Chrom. "By gods no, once we have established that you are not an enemy of Ylisse, we will let you go of course."

"Ylisse? Is that where we are?"

Once more a snide remark left the armored horseman about I being an actor, earning him a quick scolding from Chrom. "Frederick, please. Anyways this land is known as the Halidom of Ylisse and our ruler is Emmeryn, whom is also known as the exalt. I also do suppose proper introductions are in order... I am Chrom, but you seem to have already known that. This delicate girl here is Lissa, my younger sister."

At those words I watched a pout form upon Lissa's face as she tossed her hands up, "I am not delicate! Hmpf! Well, be lucky that we Shepherds found you before some Brigands did! That would have been a rude awakening."

From what she said I quickly implied that these 'Brigands' were enemies of Ylisse, or some rival group. Though the thing that struck me odd was that they called themselves. "Shepherds? You tend to sheep in full armour and with swords?"

Chrom chuckled softly, turning to look at us. "It's a dangerous job; just ask Frederick the Wary here." At those words Frederick seemed to stand a bit taller besides his horse.

"A title I shall wear with pride," the knight replied, grip tightening for a moment on the reigns of his horse. "I have every wish to trust you stranger, but my position does not allow me to do so. Gods forbid one of us keeps a proper level of caution and wariness."

"That is understandable," I said while nodding my head. "I would do no less. My name is Satoru—ah... I just remembered that. Well, at the very least that is one mystery solved." Chrom was halfway through making a comment on the way my name sounded foreign when Lissa let out a surprised gasp, pointing off to the distance. I swiveled my own gaze to where her finger was, spotting black smoke curling up into the blue sky.

"The town, Chrom, it's on fire!"

A soft 'tch' sound left the blue-haired man. "Damn it... it's those Brigand dastards again, no doubt. Lissa, Frederick, lets hurry!"

Frederick moved over to Chrom and I caught whispers asking about they should do with me. Chrom hurriedly replied that if I wasn't on fire, my situation would wait to be sorted out. With no other words they ran on ahead and I let out a small startled noise for them to wait. Of course they didn't, so after a few moments of debating whether I should follow them or not I turned to their direction, beginning my journey to where the smoke was. What did I have to lose? Quickly I sped up my pace in hopes of making up for the distance they set between them and I.

* * *

The smell of smoke was already beginning to fill the air, though it wasn't as strong of a smell as I was expecting.

"Wait!" I cried out again as the three figures began coming into my view. They all seemed to be startled a bit by my voice (all but Frederick the Wary), and between us Chrom was the first to speak up.

"Satoru! You followed us—but why?"

"I'm..." I stopped running, not replying as I was both trying to catch my breath and trying to think of a reason. Once more I drew a blank on the reason. "I'm not too certain myself—but I am armed and I know my way around a fight, if you'll have me." Frederick tossed a small glance towards Chrom, who seemed to momentarily debate my proposal.

"Of course—there's strength in numbers, just stay close!" My hands patted the small satchel hidden under my robe—thank the gods for magical satchels made to carry multiple items—before shifting through it and pulling out a tome. Chrom began speaking once more, "I see you wear a sword on you and—... Wait, is that a tome? ... You know magic?" I gave him a small nod before patting my sides as well; a sword was sheathed and worn on my hip, though I hadn't noticed until Chrom pointed it out. For now I kept my tome out, leaving the sword in the place it was before.

"I believe so...?" I stared at the tome, trying to rack my brain for how to use them again.

"You believe so...? I think I'll keep a few paces behind you for now."

"No, no I can control it. Now how did this work again—ah, yes..." For now we headed towards the thieves that had intruded the town. I ended up moving ahead from everyone, though Frederick broke off from our formation to go around the collection of houses and to attack from behind while Lissa, being unable to attack (she can kick hard though), remained behind, leaving Chrom and I to head off towards the two bandits that were in our range.

My grasp on the totem seemed to tighten as one of them finally saw us, swinging his axe towards us. Had it not been for quick, instinctual reflexes, I would have surely been caught by the by the blade. Instead, I felt the butt of the axe come into contact with my stomach, leaving me winded for a second. Chrom shoved the other bandit back, giving me a moment to recover before I held out my hand, multiple circles filled with runes of an ancient language seemed to appear before my hand. "Ha—!"

The sound left my lips just as the thunder magic left my hand, striking the bandit down to the ground, leaving Chrom to rush up to finish him off. My hand flew down to press against the spot where the butt of the wooden handle came into contact, knowing well it would bruise later.

"You alright?" Chrom asked as he looked over, mild concern in those deep blue eyes. I gave him an assuring nod before we saw Lissa rushing over, holding out her staff.

"Satoru! Let me heal you," Lissa eagerly said, grasping her staff tightly. I stared at her before looking down to the spot where I was hit, frowning for a mere moment. It was really only a bruise but it wouldn't hurt to have it removed early on. The blonde girl raised her staff and I felt a warm feeling spread through me, the ache from the already bruising spot (not to my knowledge) began to fade, leaving me refreshed and ready to get back to the fight.

With our momentary distraction it allowed the other bandit to sneak up upon us, nearly ready to swing down his sword upon Lissa. A soft scream left her and I was afraid we wouldn't be able to reach her until we saw a blue blur pass by us, taking along the attacker along with him. All that was left was a stain of blood on the ground. It seemed like Frederick had used the opportunity to storm them from side while we took the front, leaving them open as they had focused on only us.

"Frederick-!" I had spotted the mage before he did but I wasn't able to get to him before the fire magic was released towards him. I was ready to rush over, as was Chrom and Lissa, but Frederick took the hit, easily brushing it off before pulling on the reigns of his horse, turning towards the mage. The mage's eyes widened, beginning to scramble back before the lance Frederick was wielding went through their chest and was quickly withdrawn, leaving the body to crumple upon the ground. I read no emotion upon Frederick's face as he continued heading to what I assumed was the leader of the small gang, raising the lance. Chrom was close behind, grasping his blade. The two ascended upon him, some of their hits blocked by the weapon the leader was wielding, but it was Chrom that dealt the last blow.

I had remained in the back with Lissa before the two men rejoined us once more.

"Are you two alright?" Chrom looked slightly worried as he asked but we both had reassured him we were okay. "Thank you, Satoru, for lending us your strength... and that makes you a friend. No helpless victim, that's for sure."

"Indeed," Frederick added in. "Perhaps you might even find a way to explain how you came to be here?"

I shook my head, letting out a sigh. "I can understand your skepticism, Sir Frederick, but I cannot explain as to why only some knowledge has returned to me but please believe me; I have shared all that I know."

Chrom the intervened to offer his word once more. "You fought to save Ylissean lives. My heart says that's enough for me."

Frederick "And your mind, milord? Will you not heed its council as well?"

"Frederick, we could do good with someone of Satoru's talents. "We've Brigands and unruly neighbours, all looking to bloody our soil. Would you really have us lose such an able tactician? Besides, I believe her story, as odd as it may be." I felt my cheeks grow a little warm at those words, feeling thankful that at least one person believed my bizarre story.

"Th... Thank you, Chrom." A small smile turned up my lips at his words.

"So what do you think Satoru? Will you join us?"

"I would be honoured."

* * *

I was digging through my satchel to see if I had anything else other than my tome in there, but found nothing. A long sigh had left me, had this been all I packed with me? A tome and a bronze sword? And I thought I had been smarter than that. I made my way back to the group, overhearing a conversation about the bandits possibly being Plegians, a country next to Ylisse that had sent small bands of thieves in hopes of instigating a war between their two nations.

A villager came over to offer us dinner for the night and a place to stay over, but Frederick kindly refused him, causing a disruption between Lissa and Frederick, even though the knight was smiling. Their interactions made me chuckle softly before I said, "You've got quite the stern lieutenant there."

Lissa seemed to still be bristled up, huffing and turning to me to add, "Yeah, well, 'stern' is one name for it. I can think of a few others!" Chrom seemed to also join in my chuckling, equally as amused by Lissa's words for Frederick.

"Frederick only smiles when he's about to bring down the axe," he said, causing me to smile a little more and to say 'duly noted'. Frederick cleared his throat slightly.

"You do realize I am still present?"

"Oh, we realize." At that I saw a grin appearing onto both Chrom and Lissa's faces and I couldn't help but join in.

"Milord remains as amusing as ever. Now then, shall we be heading towards the capital?"

"All right, all right. Ready to go Satoru? The capital isn't far from where we are."

I gave a nod before we began walking away from the small town.


	2. Unwelcome Change

Our steps were fast, but the sun was already sinking below the horizon line, brushing the landscape in a golden glow. Lissa seemed to be busy trying to keep the bugs away from flying in her mouth, casually swatting her hands around her, gaining her a slightly weird look while Frederick merely shook his head. It caused me to smile a little before I turned my gaze from the left-over light from the sun that now had slid down and out of view behind rounded hills.

"We should probably rest for the night," Chrom said, stopping his walking. We all followed after him, stopping to turn and to face him as to hear what his next words were... well everyone but Lissa, who loudly huffed.

"Well I'm starving! We should've stayed at that town to eat!" she whined softly, crossing her arms over her chest. "Now it's all dark and ick and the bugs are out too... Disgusting, icky bugs that can fly and crawl all over you."

"I'm also quite hungry," I murmured, resting a hand on my stomach as it let out a growl, cheeks turning a faded red as I realized that growl wasn't as silent as I hoped it to be. Chrom and Lissa couldn't help but let out a laugh, while I even managed to get a chuckle out of Frederick. Guess that man was human after all. I turned my gaze away awkwardly, mumbling under my breath.

"Then shall we go get something to eat?" Chrom asked. "Lissa you could come with me to gather firewood." Lissa nodded and just as she was about to open her mouth to respond she suddenly clamped her hands over her mouth before coughing, as if trying to get something out.

"Ew! I think I swallowed a bug!" Lissa whined loudly, grimace on her visage. "No thanks, I think I've built enough character for one day!"

"Heh... what about you, Satoru? Would you like to help me?" I blinked at Chrom in surprise, not expecting the invitation to help him with carrying the firewood.

"Ah, I wouldn't mind helping... Chrom," I replied. Frederick got off his horse before heading over to Lissa, towering besides her. I couldn't help but compare how pretty much Frederick towered over  _everyone_ , even Chrom.

"We can go hunting for food." Frederick's expression was still while Lissa shook her head, trying to push Frederick away from herself and letting out a squeak.

"I-I'd rather not, Frederick!" she squealed, unsuccessful in budging the knight from his spot, even by an inch.

"Milady, if you do not want to attend with your brother to gather wood, then you must join me; its dangerous at night. You can remain on the horse while I go get the hunted animal."

"Fine... as long as I get to sit at the front and hold the reins."

"Just please don't run the horse into a tree..."

I waited for our two groups to break off: I was going to go with Chrom to gather firewood and to clear a campsite while Frederick and Lissa would head out to find some source of food we could get. The nearest town, from what I understood, was about a half a day's journey on foot, but we couldn't risk getting ambushed in the night for just some food. Anyways I was tired and I was sure that even if we went, I'd pass out cold from exhaustion.

"So, shall we head off, Satoru?"

Chrom's words snapped me out of my thoughts and I blankly stared at him for a few moments before nodding and getting up, adjusting the hood of my cloak. He gave me a slightly confused look at the blank stare I just had given him, but it quickly faded as I began following him along the trail. We both were picking up what branches we could find and stacking them under our arms.

We stopped by a lake afterwards to wash our faces momentarily and I was left to stare at my reflection in the water. My olive green eyes seemed to have sunken back a bit in the cavity of my eye socket... or at least the one that was visible—maybe because I was so tired and lacking energy. The way I wore my hair caused my right eye to be covered by bark brown hair. I pushed my hair back behind my ear so that I could see both my eyes. I had a few scrapes on my face along with dirt, and another quick rinse washed that away quickly. I didn't look old nor young... but of a woman reaching her full maturity; I could assume I was around 18 years of age. Full lips, determined gaze in my expression—had I not looked so tired and not known this was me... if I saw someone like this on the street, I would have thought myself to be beautiful. That caused a smug grin to secretly curl my lips up.

I hadn't noticed Chrom watching from afar, as he had turned his head away once I had gotten up again. We gathered our branches before heading off again.

As we were alone now I had the chance to ask more about the place I was located.

"Chrom?"

"Yes, Satoru?" Chrom straightened up and placed one more branch under his arm. A random thought of how the branches didn't dig into the bare skin on his arm flitted into my head but that was soon pushed out by other questions.

"Why would the Plegians want to attack you? I have been thinking about it for a while, but due to my... lack of knowledge of this land..."

"That's understandable, and I'll tell you." He eased the branches down into a pile on the ground, making sure they didn't spread apart so he'd have to gather them again. I did the same and after looking around for a little while, I spotted Chrom sitting down on a fallen tree trunk, spatting the spot besides him. I brushed my cloak slightly before sitting down next to him, making sure to leave some space between us. "To begin... fifteen years ago, when the previous exalt was in power, my father... he launched a crusade into Plegia mainly due to the fact that they worship the Fell Dragon. This conflict has been going on for a millennium, but the war my father started was more brutal than those before the two nations. Both were nearly destroyed, but the conflict suddenly ended with my father's death, and once my sister took over as exalt, withdrawing the troops from Plegia and back to Ylisse. Unlike us, whom have recovered and moved on from this war, Plegia and their king, Gangrel, have held a grudge against us since, sending out small bands like the one we fought in hopes to start a war."

I had held on to every word that left him, absorbing the information before one particular detail, or two, hit me. If his father was the exalt... and his sister was the one now... "W-wait wouldn't that make you... Prince Chrom! Sire! I-I'm so sorry—"

"Satoru! Peace... just Chrom is fine. I have never been one for formalities." I couldn't help but let the red colour flush through my cheeks, embarrassed that I had been so casual to someone with such a high position.

"I-I'm still sorry." I took in a deep breath, awkwardly shifting my gaze to him only to see a grin plastered on his face, one I haven't seen since I met him. I stared for a few moments too long at that smile before snapping my head away, which merely caused him to chuckle.

"You are a curious person, Satoru. Maybe we should begin heading back to see what Frederick and Lissa have fished for us?" A stiff nod followed from me and we both got up, gathering the logs underneath our arms once more and began heading back to the spot we had split up at before... only to be met with the carcass of a bear, which Lissa had put quite a distance between herself and it. Frederick was rubbing the back of his neck before he spotted us and straightened up.

"Ah, milord, you're back as well. Shall we prepare dinner?"

* * *

It's a little sad to realize how hungry I was that I was willing to overlook the toughness of the bear meat as long as I got cooked food into my stomach. Now I wished we did stay at the town... roast chicken topped with herbs sounded good at the moment, and a whine threatened to leave me—well, it really couldn't considering my mouth was stuffed with tough meat.

I hadn't bothered to listen in to the conversation that was going on... well not completely, all I picked up were on the fact that Lissa and Frederick weren't eating, but really I'm not surprised. Considering they're high-born... no, they all live in a place where I'm sure food can come at the snap of a finger. Really, Chrom seems to be the only other one out of us to be eating.

After we ate I couldn't help but feel fatigue weighing down my eyelids and before I knew it I was out cold on the cool grass; the only feeling I could remember was the cold drops of water on the grass brushing against my cheek and something similar to a blanket covering part of my body.

...

Of course, I was woken up later by Frederick, more roughly than I had hoped.

"Satoru, get up, we have to get to milord and milady!"

"A-ah, Frederick... w-what happened?" I mumbled, hastily being pulled up by the larger knight and pulled towards the horse. I felt the fabric on me begin to slip off and I grasped it with my fingers to make sure it didn't do that, still too half asleep to pay attention what was on me. I was put at the back so I could wrap my arms around Frederick to assure I wasn't going to just randomly fall off in my current state, though I admit I snapped out of it once I noticed the fire raging off in the distance.

"I'm not sure, but I know milady and milord went off on a walk and not too long after they left this had happened in the direction they went off in." We quickly galloped off in the direction Frederick had mentioned and I took in what I could while we were moving, which really wasn't much but tree after tree. Now that I had time to recollect my thoughts I took notice of the soft cloth that had been resting on my body, studying it from what I could due to my position and finding it to be—very, very similar to the cape that Chrom was wearing. Identical if not. I reminded myself to thank him once this was all over and sorted out. "Milord!"

The horse came to a stop, almost sliding on the grass. We quickly dismounted to run over to where Chrom was in the clearing of the forest, Lissa hidden behind the thick undergrowth in the forest. But my attention was quickly drawn away to the... beings off in the distance. They looked like humans, save for the fact that their skin was ashen and had crimson eyes that seemed to have sunken into their heads... they looked dead.

"Are these beings common in here...?" I heard myself ask.

"No, Satoru," Chrom answered, "These are beings unlike ones I have seen before."

I held out the cloak and he took it, giving me a brief smile before placing it back on his shoulders. We all drew our weapons and headed off towards the group of enemies.

"Listen to me, these guys are harder to kill, one stab through their chest isn't enough. We can split up and head to the abandoned forts around here to use to our advantage. Frederick, keep Satoru close and make sure none of these... creatures get near Lissa. I'll go on ahead to the other fort. As we broke off our formation that's when I began noticing these things growing closer at a quick pace, some dragging their weapons against the dry ground. Before some could get closer than comfortable I pulled my Thunder Tome out of my bag. A yell left me as the stands of magic warped into multiple circular figures in front and to the side of my hand, ancient letters laced between them.

The charged bolt lashed out to one of the undead, striking them cleanly in the chest. I was about to let out a small victorious sound only to be startled as the one I just hit dashed towards me, ready to swing his axe. Out of instinct I raised my hands and closed my eyes, ready to jump out of the way when metal scraping against metal filled my ears. My eyes opened to find Frederick in front of me, lance blocking the blade of the axe. With a kick he pushed the undead male away, plunging the lance into his throat and swinging up through his head. He must've had a lot of strength. The corpse let out black coloured dust from the places it was cut, flailing a bit before crumbling into nothing.

"T-Thanks..." I murmured softly to Frederick and he responded with an acknowledging grunt before we continued moving. The fort wasn't as big as I expected, and close to crumbling. But it did allow us to slip between walls, using the landscape to our advantage.

"Captain Chrom!" A loud female voice rose above the sounds of blades clashing against blades. My attention was drawn away from the battle momentarily, spotting a female riding in on a horse near Chrom with a light-blue haired individual wielding a bow. Their discussions were drowned out as I was too far to hear it, instead turning my attention back to the undead that were nearing. Using the broken walls as a shield, I clambered up on one to avoid the swing of a sword, metal scraping against stone. I withdrew my own blade, bringing it down upon the head of the other. I had expected him to vanish at the first, fatal blow, but I had to stumble along the wall instead of avoid another swing of the blade. A string of curses escaped under my breath, once more switching to my tome and sending another bolt to the undead. Luckily this hit struck and struck hard, knocking him down. I watched the whisps of smoke leave the corpse, looking around and seeing I was alone. Where had Frederick went?

A girlish scream left me for a moment as the dissolving corpse grasped my leg, trying to kick it off. Gods, I'm glad I was wearing high boots... last thing I needed was a dead hand on my leg. Lissa came up to me from behind, also letting out a small scream at the hand I just kicked off. We watched it writhe for a few moments before it fell limp and disappeared.

It seems like the fighting had died down on Chrom's side and we spotted both Chrom and Frederick heading on back along with two new additions to the party. With small talk exchanged between us, I found the female red-haired horse rider was Sully, firey look settled in her eyes that matched her hair. The other one was Virion, an archer with charms that almost made me want to roll my eyes at him. Not to say he didn't look handsome with his long, light blue hair... if only his words weren't sappy.

Again... the presence of another caught my attention and I turned to face this masked person, dark blue hair seeming to match Chrom's. Lissa thanked them for rescuing her, and with a bit more discussion he introduced himself as Marth. Though the words he left us with were: "I'm not here to talk about me. This world teeters at the brink of a horrible calamity. What you saw tonight was but a prelude. You have been warned."

He left without another word, leaving the air still with silence before Frederick spoke up, "It appears his skills lie elsewhere. I wager we'll hear his name again... But for now I'm more concerned about the capital. We should make haste."

* * *

Ylisstol, the capital, was large—larger than any I had seen before... or any I had seen since I apparently lost my memory. Shops that held various medicinal potions, tomes, and weapons littered the streets, some stores even being for hobbies and miscellaneous items. I bit down on my bottom lip a bit, wishing I could ask if we could browse through the stores, but it seemed that Lissa voiced out my thoughts, tugging on Chrom's cape.

After a bit of talking between the two we agreed that we could split up to browse through the stores. Lissa would accompany me since I didn't know the way, while Frederick and Chrom headed off in their own directions. We entered a store that contained staffs and tomes and immediately I began digging through the tomes, picking up an Elfire and stuffing it into my satchel after paying for it. Thank the gods I had money in here. My sword still seemed to be in a good condition so I left it alone, even though I knew later I would need to change it.

We met back up with Frederick and Chrom a bit later before we all began to head off to the center to meet the Exalt... from what Frederick explained to me, her name is Emmeryn and she is the older sister of both Chrom and Lissa. She symbolizes the peace that was fought for when the fell dragon first rose and the first Exalt joined forces with the divine dragon to slay it.

It took us a little while to get into the large... well, it was more of a castle-like building, tall and shimmering in the sunlight that was outside and it streamed in through the glass windows. If I shouted my voice would probably echo off the walls, but as much as it did seem tempting, I didn't. We soon met up with the Exalt Emmeryn, a kind-faced woman with pale blonde hair that matched Lissa's.

She greeted us with a kind voice and I could guess why she was the prized treasure of Ylisse... the symbol of peace. With words that could quell most rebellious hearts. Well, most, Plegian hearts didn't seem to want to listen. Chrom introduced me to her and told her of how I helped them in the battle, proving I was a real Shepherd. My cheeks blushed red in embarrassment and Emmeryn softly laughed.

"Is that so? I'm glad to hear that, Chrom, Satoru," she softly said, gentle smile still on her face.

Frederick suddenly stepped in with these words: "Forgive me, Your Grace, but I must speak. Satoru claims to have lost her memory, but it is only that: a claim. We cannot rule out the possibility that he is a brigand herself or even a Plegian spy."

Chrom snapped at Frederick and Emmeryn shook her head.

"Chrom, you allowed this woman into our castle. Does Satoru have your trust?" Emmeryn asked, and the prince nodded.

"She risked her life to save Ylissean lives, that proves to me she does not have malicious intents." Chrom's words were firm as he said that.

"Well then... you have earned Chrom's trust thus you have gained mine as well. Welcome to Ylisstol, Satoru."

"Thank you, Your Grace," I replied, giving a small courtesy.

"But thank you, Frederick, for your prudence, as always. Chrom and Lissa are blessed to have so tireless a guardian. I do hope they remember to mention that from time to time..."

"They occasionally express something akin to gratitude, Your Grace," he replied with a small smile. I couldn't help but smile as well. The discussion then turned to the creatures that had attacked us, and Lissa looked at me with a smile.

"They're going to have a council meeting Satoru, and that's our cue! C'mon, I have some place to show you."


End file.
